So, I guess the report that he said no was false...Steve Yzerman will be introduced today as the new GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=322598

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mechaphil

I once heard a Sports Authority employee refer to a hockey stick as a Steve "Zerrmann" stick.

Fail.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

The Bolts are awesome now.

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

I watch a lot of Bolts games because I live here, but I don't want them to be good, because than i'll be afraid to go to the Sabres away games in Tampa....

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"Ah...composite sticks...you can't beat 'em...unless you have a wooden one..."-Harry Neale

In Pegula We We Trust!

i want, for stevie y's sake, he does good

for the lightnings sake, i hope he sucks

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PSA: I am an overly sarcastic person. If you take me at my word, then i will most likely anger and offend you.

yzerman knows hockey, and that team, which was already getting better, will accelerate the process. yzerman knows his shit.

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*doesn't care about any team in the SE division*

Basically, The Bolts are going in the right direction and Steve Y will bring that team back to the playoffs.

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Good move, defenitely will provid some stability there

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"...they came down into the stands and asked if I knew how to do play by play. I said...No. But. I'll take a shot at it if you want".- Rick Jeanneret

With Yzerman becoming the GM, I think this might have saved the Lightning from ever moving out of the state of Florida. Same can be said about Tallon with the Panthers

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just call me Brad

Twitter @BUrbanowicz13

Who's to say they won't build strong teams but still move out due to sustained apathy? Nothing would be more attractive to a potential northern owner than a strong team with a great name behind the scenes that is still doing poorly in a southern market.

...that's my hope, anyways.

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mechaphil

We've seen the numbers, when Tampa is a good team, the people come and sell out the arena.

They did rank in the top 5 the year after they won the cup.

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phil, when i worked for PSE, davidson owned the lightning at the time. back then, he was turning profit. even the wings wernt doing that. the lightning can have a decent base, more so then most other southern cities.

my ideal scenario would be have the two florida teams combine and play at the new orlando arena, opening the door for an "expansion" team.

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OK ALL I'M SAYING IS I hope that the teams that were created by the southern expansion initiative do well on the ice but do horribly business-wise so some businessmen up north who want to buy a hockey team see good products in poor markets.

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mechaphil

oh, i know what ya mean, and i agree, alot. but im not sure tampa should move, because they do have a decent following.

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I'd say the only teams who really should move from the southern market are the ones where hockey doesn't have a huge following, I'm not talking attendance numbers. I'm talking about how many people play hockey in the area in the icerinks around the team.

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Like Atlanta and Florida, honestly it looks like no gives two shits about hockey in these markets.

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just call me Brad

Twitter @BUrbanowicz13

Basically, I mean having a team furthers the kids in the area to start playing hockey also so if you got a good following in that area, keep a team around, it doesn't need to be tops in attendance, as long as it isn't in the red that's really all that matters in a business.

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Since you live in North Carolina, do people play lots of hockey or is it mostly other sports like football? Only reason I ask is I have been against Carolina having a team since day one.

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just call me Brad

Twitter @BUrbanowicz13

I've found plenty of people do. I'm not so sure of the younger crowd, but it seems like every peewee league is practically full.

When I took my Learn to Play Hockey class, over 25 people were in it.

RYHA.com is the Raleigh Youth Hockey Association and it has a good amount of teams. We have plenty of ice rinks in the area and there is a good following whenever I go to the stick n pucks, normally over 8 guys and we can get some scrimmaging together.

I'm glad hockey is as close to me as it can get basically now. I wish I had started or really got into it back when I lived in PA, but oh well. Plenty of people down here love to play it also. Of course it's nothing like where you live though.

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